1. Field of the Invention
The invention is concerned with vehicles having load-lifting means such as forklifts and the like attached thereto. More particularly, the invention is concerned with such vehicles which also includes a removable counterweight on an opposite side of the center of gravity of the vehicle from the load-lifting means. Such vehicles are particularly useful on docks and the like wherein they can be used to move cargo on the docks and then can be lifted into the holds of ships to move cargo therein. In such a situation, the counterweight is generally moved separately from the remainder of the vehicle.
2. Prior Art
Vehicles having load-lifting capacities such as lift trucks are very well known to the prior art. Such trucks are often used with a counterweight removably secured thereto on an opposite side of the center of gravity thereof from the load-lifting means thereof. For example, lift-trucks of this sort are generally used on docks wherein they can be used to move relatively heavy loads because of the presence of the counterweight from one place to another, and thereafter can be lifted into the hold of a ship in two pieces, one piece being the counterweight and the other being the vehicle itself, wherein they can be used to properly position cargo within the hold of the ship. Such lift-trucks are taught for example in each of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,061,034; 3,367,441 and 3,787,086. In the first of the above-mentioned patents, the counterweight is bolted into place. In the second of the above-listed patents, the counterweight is held in place by hooks, and in the third of the above-mentioned patents, crossbolts are used to secure the counterweight in place.
The counterweight mounting means taught by the above-mentioned patents and elsewhere in the prior art, do not in a single structure allow for the very quick removal of a counterweight from a vehicle, provide secure restraining of the counterweight from lateral motion and at the same time provide secure vertical restraining of the counterweight which is very quickly and easily removed from the lift-truck or the vehicle to which it is attached. The present invention is concerned with an improved mounting and locking arrangement which accomplishes at one and the same time all of the above desirable results and which in some embodiments even further provides certain important features which allow it to be moved about without any possibility of its parts snagging upon any equipment in the area thereof.